A survivor of high class who specializes in exquisite combos. CHEF's core loop is applying Glaze (oil) to enemies then following with Sear for boosted burn damage or Ice Box for enhanced freeze. His CHEF's Kiss passive rewards multi-skill kills with healing food drops. With 0 base armor and a mandatory close-range playstyle, CHEF demands good positioning but rewards clean execution with excellent sustained damage.
CHEF's kit revolves around the Glaze then Sear combo. Glaze oils enemies and weakens them; Sear deals 75% bonus damage to oiled targets and stacks burn faster. Everything else - Dice recall, Roll mobility, and Yes, CHEF! boosts - supports this core damage window.
Yes, CHEF! changes the next skill used after activation. The Boosted versions are significantly stronger than their base forms.
Throws cleavers in all directions for 400% damage each. Hits everything around CHEF simultaneously.
Fires 3 fireballs for 700% damage each. Fireballs leave pre-ignited oil pools on impact. Highest single-cast damage in CHEF's kit.
Adds Bleeding on hit and deals an extra 200% damage to all nearby enemies during the charge. Strong sustained melee combo.
CHEF requires the Seekers of the Storm DLC and is unlocked via the Order Up! challenge - completing a recipe at CHEF's Wok in the Reformed Altar. Unlike most unlocks, items can be placed across multiple runs. You never need all three in a single session.
Collect 3 items: Bison Steak (Common), Cautious Slug (Common), and Infusion (Uncommon). Use Artifact of Command to guarantee them. Progress saves across runs so items can be placed separately.
Find the Halcyon Shrine - a tall green crystal shrine found on any stage. Pray to it and let it drain your gold. At each major gold threshold, new enemies spawn. A mini-boss spawns once the shrine is filled.
Defeat the mini-boss to open a green portal at the shrine's location. Enter it to access the Reformed Altar.
In the Reformed Altar, head left of the main statue structure to find a small cave. Inside is CHEF's Wok with three item slots.
Place all three ingredients in the Wok. CHEF is unlocked and the Order Up! challenge completes. Items are consumed.
Use the Artifact of Command to guarantee all three items in one run. Bison Steak and Cautious Slug are Common items so they appear frequently. Infusion is Uncommon - look for it in green item chests. The Halcyon Shrine always appears on Stage 1. Items placed in the Wok persist between sessions, so there is no pressure to get everything in one go.
It's Getting Hot In Here!: inflict Mithrix with 20 active Burn stacks at once. Requires high attack speed (~1.9x from ~6 Soldier's Syringe) for a single Sear cast to do it solo. Easier in multiplayer with an Artificer teammate using Flamethrower.
You've Always Been Crazy: hit 5 airborne enemies with a single Roll. Use Artifact of Swarms + Dissonance + Kin to fill a stage with airborne enemies like Lesser Wisps, then Roll through them all.
Barbecued Bison: Glaze 10 Bison enemies then kill them with Sear. Use Artifacts of Swarms, Dissonance, and Kin on a stage with Bison spawns. Glaze them all, then Sear the group.
CHEF's priority items are attack speed for Sear burn scaling and on-kill AoE since Glaze + Sear kills enemy groups at close range constantly. Gasoline and Will-o'-the-wisp chain beautifully off every kill. Focus Crystal is reliable since Sear, Roll, and Glaze all operate within 13m.
Attack speed increases Sear's burn tick rate directly - more burn ticks per second means more stacks applied to enemies. Glazed enemies with high Sear burn stacks melt extremely fast. Sear at 1.9x attack speed can apply 20 Burn stacks in a single cast.
Killing burning enemies ignites nearby enemies in a 12m radius. Since Sear already applies Ignite, CHEF's kills chain into nearby groups constantly. Combines with Will-o'-the-wisp for strong AoE from any kill.
Explosion on kill. CHEF kills enemies in tight groups with Glaze + Sear combos, making Will-o'-the-wisp cascade frequently. Each kill detonates nearby enemies, compounding CHEF's close-range burst.
25% chain lightning on hit. Dice pierces through enemies on both outward and return paths, giving Ukulele procs on each hit. Glaze's 7 oil globs also each roll Ukulele independently for heavy chain lightning coverage.
10% missile on hit. Dice's outbound and return hits both proc AtG independently. With multiple cleavers airborne and Glaze's 7 hits, AtG fires frequently across CHEF's entire damage rotation.
Adds an extra Glaze charge. Two Glaze casts back-to-back means more Oiled enemies and a larger oil pool on the ground. More oil coverage means more enemies weakened before Sear.
20% bonus damage within 13m. Sear, Roll, and Glaze at close range all operate within 13m, making Focus Crystal reliably active for CHEF's most important damage windows. Stacks well.
Gain 25 max HP. One of the three items required to unlock CHEF. Stack multiple for early health padding since CHEF has 0 base armor and must stay in melee range for Sear and Roll.
CHEF's combat rotation: open with Glaze to oil and weaken enemies, then immediately follow with Sear for boosted burn damage. Use Roll to close gaps or escape, Dice for poke damage and on-hit procs, and Yes, CHEF! before Sear for the Boosted Sear's 3-fireball burst on important targets.
Secondary: Sear is CHEF's primary damage tool. Ice Box is a good alternate for crowd control via freeze. Utility: Roll for survivability and engagement range. Oil Spill is a fun aerial alternative. Special: Yes, CHEF! once unlocked for the massive Boosted Sear burst on bosses. Glaze remains the default special for regular oiling.
Always Glaze before Sear: Glaze applies the Oiled debuff which gives Sear 75% bonus damage and stronger burn ticks. Never use Sear on un-oiled enemies when Glaze is available. The combo is the core of CHEF's damage output.
Roll + Dice mid-Roll: CHEF can throw Dice during Roll. Roll into a group, fire Dice through them for the outbound hit, continue Roll, then release Dice for the recall hit. This maximizes damage while maintaining mobility.
Yes, CHEF! cooldown reset: Yes, CHEF! instantly resets Roll's cooldown on cast. Use Roll to engage, cast Yes, CHEF!, then use Roll again for immediate re-engagement or escape without waiting for the cooldown.
CHEF's Kiss multi-skill tracking: Watch the icons above enemy HP bars. Each icon represents a different skill that has hit that enemy. Once two icons appear, the next kill drops healing food. Target priority is enemies already tagged by two or more skills.
Oil pool setup: Glaze and Oil Spill both leave oil patches on the ground. Sear will ignite these pools, creating lingering fire areas that burn enemies passing through them. Use this to control chokepoints.
Complete the Order Up! challenge by placing Bison Steak, Cautious Slug, and Infusion in CHEF's Wok inside the Reformed Altar. Access the Reformed Altar via the Halcyon Shrine green portal. Items placed in the Wok carry over between runs - you do not need all three in one session.
Glaze fires 7 oil globs dealing 7x250% damage and applies the Oiled debuff plus Weakened to enemies hit. Oiled enemies take 75% bonus damage from Sear's direct hit and stronger burn ticks. Weakened reduces their armor, damage output, and movement speed. Oil patches also remain on the ground that Sear can ignite.
Yes, CHEF! is CHEF's alternate Special that emits a 400% blast and then empowers the next skill you use. Boosted Dice throws cleavers in all directions. Boosted Sear fires 3 fireballs for 700% each that leave ignited oil pools. Boosted Roll adds Bleeding and extra AoE damage. It also instantly resets Roll's cooldown on activation.
Glaze then Sear is the core combo. For maximum boss damage: Roll in, Yes, CHEF!, Boosted Sear (700% x3 fireballs on oiled target), then Roll again using the reset Yes, CHEF! grants. Use Dice for the recall during the combo for extra proc hits.
CHEF is a challenging survivor with a high skill ceiling. His damage potential with Glaze + Sear + attack speed scaling is genuinely strong, especially against bosses. His weaknesses are 0 base armor, mandatory close-range positioning, and slower AoE clearing compared to top-tier survivors. He rewards players who master the combo system but is punishing for beginners due to the required melee engagement range.